Hard to make suggestions without a photo.

But here is something you can do right now. Go look at photos of patios on Houzz and save your favorites to an ideabook. There are 411,530 patios on Houzz here: https://www.houzz.com/photos/patio-ideas-phbr0-bp~t_725

You can do the same for decks and backyard landscapes. You ought to be able to find plenty of ideas there.

Try adding photos in the comments, using the Photo button.under the text box.

As above but you need to wait until the picture is no longer grayed then submit

"I'm looking for suggestions on the best patio/backyard entertaining area ideas." There are only best GENERAL ideas that you can incorporate. The specific best ideas are geared to your property, your needs, and your budget. If you plan to be in this house for several years, I suggest you start by creating a master plan (which is like a map of your property after you develop it), which can act as a general guide for all of your future projects. You do not have to plan down to the construction-detail-level ... just figure out what and where things things will be, and their general size and shape. That's good enough to avoid making some big mistakes by putting things in the wrong place only to discover it when the next project comes along.

The starting point will be for you to create a base plan. It's like a map but shows ONLY those existing things which will remain for all time: house footprint, walls, walks, drive, tree trunks, AC, etc. Don't show anything proposed or extra details on the base plan. Example: